Documenting Grierson
Born the son of a headmaster in Cambusbarron, near Stirling, John Grierson directed one of the first documentaries, Drifters, set up the influential GPO Film Unit making Night Mail, and went on to be the first director of The National Film Board of Canada.
The annual awards for best documentary are made in his name. He set out to make films to change the world, and made not just films, but filmmakers.
Oscar Marzaroli- Man with a Camera
Paris had Cartier-Bresson, New York - Diane Arbus and Glasgow - Oscar Marzaroli. Man with a Camera celebrates the life and work of Glasgow's pre-eminent photographer, using some of the 50,000 shots taken over thirty years - a moving portrait of a love affair between a man and his city, and the affection in which he is held today.
Marzaroli's black-and-white photographs have become synonymous with a post-war Scotland in the throes of regeneration. They captured both the aspects of the old, such as the rag-and-bone man in the Gorbals or the cockle gatherers of Barra, and the paraphernalia of the new - cranes, towers and construction at Glasgow's Charing Cross.
As Glasgow's landscape changes once again and the high-rises that Marzaroli documented going up are gradually being razed to the ground, this film celebrates Marzaroli's remarkable photographic legacy.
View clips on the BBC website.
Director Brian Ross
Producer John Archer
What Do Artists Do All Day- Frank Quitely
BBC4 Series- What do artists do all day
Frank Quitely is the alter ego of Glaswegian comic-book artist Vincent Deighan. As one of a group of British writers and artists who have reinvented the superhero genre, Frank's depictions of iconic characters like Superman, Batman and the X-Men have provided inspiration for some of Hollywood's biggest movie franchises.
In this film, we follow Frank over the course of a day and night as he works on a single page from his latest work, the epic superhero saga Jupiter's Legacy.
Director Joseph Briffa
Producer John Archer
Scottish Country Dancing: Controlled Abandon
Celebrating 90 years of The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society. At weddings, Hogmanay, a local ceilidh, or formal dinner dances Scottish Country Dancing can be an art form with the precision and nuance of ballet, or just a great big glorious hooley. Following dancers at the International Summer School in St Andrews then back home to Munich and Tokyo this warm and heartfelt documentary looks at this global phenomenon. Includes detailed dance instruction and rare archive for newcomers and aficionados alike.
Director Joseph Briffa
Producer John Archer
Dream Me Up Scotty
Alex Norton goes on a Scottish accent safari hunting for the good the bad and the totally bowfing of mock jock acting. For over 100 years audiences have struggled to understand our braw brogue: silent Harry Lauder films attempted an accent in the captions, and in Hollywood’s golden era , everyone wanted to paint their tonsils tartan– but as examples from Katharine Hepburn, Orson Welles and Richard Chamberlain show, they couldnae. Then Disney made Brave and proved that it disnae have to be all bad.
Director John MacLaverty
Producer John Archer
Alasdair Gray: A Life in Progress
Kevin Cameron has spent well over a decade with Glasgow’s best-known artist – and has produced a remarkable profile of him at work on some of his best-known murals in the city, as well as tracing his hugely varied career from his days studying at art school.
It is no exaggeration to say it could completely redefine how Gray is perceived as he prepares to turn 80 next year. - The Scotsman, 13 October 2013
Cameron’s film places Gray within the context of a world in which he is renowned, but also explores the reality of his life in the city that provides his greatest inspiration. - The Skinny, February 2013
For more information, have a look at A Life in Progress website.
Iboga Nights
David Graham Scott returns to the drug that saved his life- is ibogaine really a wonder drug?
Ibogaine is an extract from a plant root that hails from Africa. A burgeoning movement in the west has promoted iboga as a quick fix route to painless withdrawal for drug addicts. David successfully treated his own methadone addiction ten years ago, and now he wants to find out how effective the treatment is for others.
In a Dutch suburb several addicts embark on the long night of psychedelic detox under the watchful eye of an experienced iboga practitioner. One client collapses and ends up on a life-support, the provider is jailed and David starts to question the safety of iboga treatment.
David follows several addicts, gaining a personal understanding of their world and how their lives hang in the balance. Will iboga work its miracles?
Directed by David Graham Scott
Produced by John Archer
For more details see the Iboga Nights website here.
Enlighten Up!
Do you exist? If you do, do you know who you are? If so, can you be sure you really know anything?! Robert Florence and Iain Connell have some burning questions for you that will change the way you see the world. Through their unique brand of absurd comedy, Florence and Connell teach viewers just what it takes to think philosophically. This 30-minute special unlocks the big questions through mind-bending sketches and animations, using real world examples and contemporary culture.
For the answers we look 300 years ago to a group of upstart Scots. They came up with some crazy ideas- and changed the way we think about everything from happiness to what makes you, you! Florence and Connell tackle a big philosophical question in each sketch using the theories of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Broadcast on BBC1 Scotland, and BBC Learning.
Clips online at here.
Watching Ourselves series 2
Our second series of Watching Ourselves returns with Greg Hemphill at the helm to celebrate more gems from the past 60 years of television in Scotland.
In a four part series, we examine how Hogmanay shows have, for better or worse, defined our culture at this very Scottish time of year. We revisit the heyday of the Scottish swashbuckler, a genre ruled by swordfights and skullduggery and talk to some of its dashing heroes. Over the years producers and directors have made ground-breaking programmes capturing the artist at work, no mean feat when you're dealing with some of the nation's most challenging talents. And finally there's the weird and the wonderful ways in which television has celebrated the life and works of our most cherished national hero, Robert Burns. From the kitsch to the clever, the far-out to the fabled, Burns has been a staple of Scottish television since the formative years.
Featuring interviews with Michael Gambon, John Cairney, Billy Connolly, Eileen McCallum, Mary Marquis, Janis Forsyth, Iain Glen, Andrew O'Hagan, Alex Norton, Brian Cox and more!